Hi there,

350 Holley on 2 Litre Pinto (warm). Purely street use.

Problem: bad idle after changing jets. Reset to previous jets (what it was running fine on before). Bad idle still present, struggles to accelerate at all.

Question: Can a plunger affect idle?

The car is undriveable at the moment - help!
Thanks!

I have no short term help, but llong turn help will be removing holley and putting a 38dgas on.

quote:

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Originally posted by 4descort

Hi there,

350 Holley on 2 Litre Pinto (warm). Purely street use.

Problem: bad idle after changing jets. Reset to previous jets (what it was running fine on before). Bad idle still present, struggles to accelerate at all.

Question: Can a plunger affect idle?

The car is undriveable at the moment - help!
Thanks!

---

how have u been driving it? i am FAR from a carburetter professional of any kind, but i have heard good things from test drives, put the old jets in, (that originally caused the bad idle) and flog the crap out of it for a bit, did it accelerate and handle load reasonably with the old jets?

i put and old 32/36 on my escort ages ago, took it for a drive and it ran well/fine. and after a bit of driving it ran like a dog, turns out one of the mixture screws had fallen out because it didn't have the locking washer thingo holding it in.

visual inspection been done at all? cant hurt.

Hey,

Visual inspection looks all good. Just curious because usually when I just adjust the plunger it solves the problem under load. But now it's running like crap on idle as well - that's why I really want to know-

Does the plunger have any effect on idle?

If it does not, then it could be electrical etc.

Just remembering, before this I've been driving it with the holley for over 12 months nicely. I decided to play with jets to see if it made a little difference for rich/lean mixture. The original jets are back in and the idle is shot.

Thanks.

quote:

---

Originally posted by 4descort

Hey,

Visual inspection looks all good. Just curious because usually when I just adjust the plunger it solves the problem under load. But now it's running like crap on idle as well - that's why I really want to know-

Does the plunger have any effect on idle?

If it does not, then it could be electrical etc.

Just remembering, before this I've been driving it with the holley for over 12 months nicely. I decided to play with jets to see if it made a little difference for rich/lean mixture. The original jets are back in and the idle is shot.

Thanks.

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yeah sorry mate. i have no idea what it could really be then.

if its worth my 2cents at all, then yeah, i dont think plungers/pumps affect idle in any way.

best advice, (which 5/10 carby problems end up resorting too) is just dump it on a professional, and have it fixed quickly and easily, just no always cheaply though. [B)]

quote:

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Originally posted by Sterling

quote:

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Originally posted by 4descort

Hey,

Visual inspection looks all good. Just curious because usually when I just adjust the plunger it solves the problem under load. But now it's running like crap on idle as well - that's why I really want to know-

Does the plunger have any effect on idle?

If it does not, then it could be electrical etc.

Just remembering, before this I've been driving it with the holley for over 12 months nicely. I decided to play with jets to see if it made a little difference for rich/lean mixture. The original jets are back in and the idle is shot.

Thanks.

---

yeah sorry mate. i have no idea what it could really be then.

if its worth my 2cents at all, then yeah, i dont think plungers/pumps affect idle in any way.

best advice, (which 5/10 carby problems end up resorting too) is just dump it on a professional, and have it fixed quickly and easily, just no always cheaply though. [B)]

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no crack in the coil housing? crack in an ignition lead or two?

is there anything else you did when you dismantled the carby to change jets?

even if its just something like removing ignition leads, some people manage to tear the ends off them.

quote:

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Originally posted by 3sc0rt

I have no short term help, but llong turn help will be removing holley and putting a 38dgas on.

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...Or bike carbs

Thanks for your input so far!

Tell me - are there any quick and easy ways to test ignition leads, coil, etc ?

You see, it was running good, I put smaller jets in, and it started running like crap. I assumed, okay, it's the jets. So i put the original jets back in and problem still existing. So maybe you're right, if you can confirm that plunger doesn't affect idle, then it sounds like coil/dissy etc.

Let me know.

!

quote:

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Originally posted by 4descort

Thanks for your input so far!

Tell me - are there any quick and easy ways to test ignition leads, coil, etc ?

You see, it was running good, I put smaller jets in, and it started running like crap. I assumed, okay, it's the jets. So i put the original jets back in and problem still existing. So maybe you're right, if you can confirm that plunger doesn't affect idle, then it sounds like coil/dissy etc.

Let me know.

!

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i never learen't how to test coils and leads unfortunately, ive always had spares to chuck on and see if it improved things.

heres a simple way to figure some problems out, clean the absoloute poo poo out of the carby, clear out the jets do everything you can without stripping the thing, fill the tank up with premium 98, from shell or mobil (none of this liberty sh*t)

check to see if the dizzy cap has been arcing out, and if the center contact is worn, if so, replace.

visually inspect leads and connections.

remove all four spark plugs and clean like youve never cleaned before, or replace, depending on funds.

if the problem still remains, then try to get onto someone who knows holleys, because im talkign about carburetters in general, dont know anything more about holleys than there name lol.

Maybe when you pulled the bowl off to change the jets, and I'm assuming you had to clean the gasket material of the metering block, a speck of old gasket material found its way into a galley and partially blocked the idle jet. If this is the case, it is relatively difficult to remove the small cup plug to access the idle jet and blow it clear.

This happens pretty regularly when working on Holleys, and the (bloody)gaskets go all hard and crumble up when scraping them off .

I assume the idle mixture screws are unresponsive ie screw them all the way in and out and there is no change ? Put your fingers over the top of the carby to restrict the airflow and artificially richen the mixtures . Does this smoothen the idle. If so, it confirms blocked/lean idle .

You should be able to get back to the original good running if thats ALL you did. I assume you didn't touch the power valve ?

In saying all this, do yourself a favour and get rid of the Holley. Its not one of the nicest things on a street car. Its designed really for racing V8's at WOT !!!!

Mike